Harran

Driving south now, in the Fertile Crescent, toward Syria (we got as far as the border town of Akcakale; we had no Syrian visae; but someday I really do want to see Petra, in nearby Jordan), we had planned on visiting the Abrahamaic sites in Sanliurfa, then driving on to further such sites in Harran. We had some navigational and linguistic problems in Sanliurfa, ended up walking around the downtown a bit, dropping by the archaeological museum, but we were not where we wanted to be, nor did we have any reasonable clues about getting there. Or parking, etc. So we resolved to drive on to smaller and more manageable Harran, see it, and regroup. Harran is mentioned in the Bible. It is the place where Abraham and his brood were living when God commanded him to go forth and find Canaan; and establish a new people; etc. Harran has a few interesting sites, but it is a rather squalid place, and, were I Abraham, I would have sought new digs anyway.

In the garden of the archaeological museum

in Sanliurfa; lots of Hittite and even

neolithic stuff

Castle ruins in Harran; 7th-8th century, renovated several

times; the Mongols sacked Harran in the 13th century and

laid waste everything

The mound at the top of the old city, the oldest part, now a

huge dig, all fenced off

Of course, in this part of the world, there are mounds all over

the place; no indication of significance, whether they have

been excavated...

Just down from the old city mound are the ruins of the

Grand Mosque, the first mosque built in Anatolia, 7th

century; the tower is one of Turkey's few square minarets;

all destroyed by those nasty Mongols

A small subdivision of the "beehive" houses for which

Harran also is known; actually, they are a relatively recent

architectural innovation (relatively speaking) 

In Harran, they are not just museum pieces; they do stay

cool, however, even on a 95 degree day like this one

Dog vs. brick wall

Cat marvels at dog's stupidity

We ended up spending the night outside the Harran

Culture House; 10YTL and another interesting "camping"

story